Print version

Raiffeisenbank Corporate Bonds

Situation

Raiffeisenbank Ukraine (RBU) faced the challenge of being the first multinational bank to launch a corporate bond issue in Ukraine. Never before had an international institution of such renown had its in-country affiliate make such a bold move in an emerging financial market such as Ukraine's. Convinced of the market potential, RBU was prepared to take the unprecedented step of issuing bonds fully aware that the success of such an endeavor depended on the attitudes of potential investors.

Strategy

Romyr was charged with the task of attracting a knowledgeable and demanding audience composed of financiers, bankers, and other institutional investors. A campaign designed to inform and convince them of the value of the bond issue would also present RBU as a reliable business partner.

With this in mind, Romyr announced the bond issue. Our task was to counteract the media's tendency to consider such information an advertising ploy and to position the issue as serious business news. Because it was news of interest to a narrow audience, we limited our target media list to 18 outlets, including news wires, business weeklies, Internet portals and business TV programs.

We developed a series of announcements to publicize the various stages of the bond issue process from the initial statement of intent through the actual placement. Because of the complicated nature of our messages, we felt written communication was the most appropriate way to keep RBU bonds on the financial media radar. Throughout the month, we kept in daily contact with the mass media through regular written updates.

However, we felt our communication would benefit from some face-to-face interaction as well, and this was accomplished via a media briefing conducted by the RBU chairman and the bond issuance advisor. The spokespersons used this opportunity to expound on the positive dynamics of the current market, which had made the bond issue possible. Journalists also attended an investor presentation providing an additional venue in which to convey our messages.

Results

The chosen strategy proved effective. We received positive coverage in six business publications and a dozen hits in news wires and news mailings as well as a TV news segment. Romyr successfully positioned the RBU bond issue as a significant and unprecedented event in Ukrainian financial markets, and it established a positive working relationship with the bank's target media.

The content analysis of media coverage showed that our key messages were used unchanged in most instances and only in a positive or a neutral context, proving that the messages were formulated correctly and tailored effectively.

The RBU bond issue campaign set a standard for improving communications between financial institutions and Ukraine's mass media. The campaign proved that business news can indeed be perceived as news.